Walk, run, hop, skip, or jump to school today

Today, children across the country will skip the car ride and hit the pavement on Walk to School Day, but San Francisco officials are hoping a $500,000 federal grant will make that an everyday option here.

The Safe Routes to Schools grant will be used to increase awareness of pedestrian, bike and driver safety, as well as campaigns to promote walk-to-school days. The money will also fund transportation surveys to increase street safety by adding speed bumps, for example, or upping traffic enforcement.

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Today is the day.

The two-year grant program will be launched at the five schools with the highest number of students within a mile of the site: Bryant, Carver, Longfellow, Sunnyside and Sunset elementary schools.

The second year, 10 schools will be included in the program.

“The Safe Routes to Schools program teaches students and parents about how easy it can be to save our earth by reducing pollution,” Phyllis Matsuno, principal of Longfellow Elementary School, said in a statement.

One of every four San Francisco children is overweight, according to officials with the city’s Safe Routes to Schools, a cooperative program that includes the Department of Public Health, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, the school district, Police Department and Municipal Transportation Agency.

“We know that fewer and fewer kids are walking and biking to school today and that this is having a direct, negative effect on kids’ long-term health and habits. Fortunately, we know we can turn this alarming trend around,” said Leah Shahum, executive eirector of the SF Bicycle Coalition.